DJI Becomes Media Partner of BMW Motorsport

DJI and BMW Motorsport have announced an official partnership. As part of the arrangement, DJI will help the German automotive giant portray its new GTE race car and the work of BMW Motorsport more generally.

The partnership begins with a short film, Night Moves, produced by DJI Creative Studio Europe.

Shot in the dark, the film reveals the BMW M8 GTE during testing at the Paul Ricard racing track near Marseille, France. The film was completed in the run-up to the first race outing of the car at the Rolex 24 at Daytona this weekend.

The DJI team made the video during a 24-hour endurance race simulation. The video crew, which used a DJI Inspire 2 for the night shoot and illuminated the scene with a second drone, will follow BMW through the World Endurance Championship series. The partnership will culminate at the legendary 24-hour Le Mans race in June.

“DJI is thrilled to embark with BMW Motorsport and their racing team for the 2018 WEC,” said Martin Brandenburg, Managing Director, DJI EMEA.

“As their official media partner, we will bring the best of our technology and creative crew to support the BMW Motorsport Team and deliver amazing images and content for the BMW M8 GTE race car and the WEC series, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans.”

“We are proud to start the 2018 season of the FIA World Endurance Championship with a newly-developed BMW M8 GTE race car,” said BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt.

“We are delighted to team up with DJI who shares our values and standards in innovative technology, and who is our first official media partner at BMW Motorsport.”

Lights, Inspire, Action

According to a BMW blog post, DJI’s used an Inspire 2 and an M600 to film the testing through the night. The speed and manoeuvrability of the Inspire 2 helped it keep pace with the racecar. The Zenmuse X7 camera and its interchangeable lenses allowed for dynamic shots and quality footage despite the low light. The M600 was powerful enough to wield a lighting system high above the action.

You can watch a behind the scenes video of how the shoot unfolded, below:

Malek Murison is a freelance writer and editor with a passion for tech trends and innovation. He handles product reviews, major releases and keeps an eye on the enthusiast market for DroneLife.Email Malek
Twitter:@malekmurison